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CH&NFP: Bank Accounts for charities and Not for Profit groups
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My local VCS has just put some useful information sheets on their website. The three most relevant to this thread are:
Opening a Bank/Building Society Account
Role of a Treasurer
Financial Procedures
At the moment I can't access these pages using Mozilla Firefox, but they seem to be fine in IE, and I expect they'll fix that soon ...Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
my other halfruns anot for profit orginisaton and wastold by a high street bank that the only type of accountr the groupcould have was a 2 signiture tresurers account0
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Just read an article in Voluntary Sector magazine where the following were listed as offering specialist services for the charity sector - would also be good for NFPs as well:
Unity Trust Bank
Triodos Bank
Charity Bank
CAF Bank
Co-operative Bank
Bank of Scotland Community Banking
CCLASignature removed for peace of mind0 -
I always recommend CAF Bank - they are responsive, helpful, pay interest on current accounts and is itslef a charity. You can pay in via HSBC branches.£705,000 raised by client groups in the past 18 mths :beer:0
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Hi
I notice it's a while since anyone posted here and I wondered if there was any updated advice on the best bank accounts for a registered charity as my group is looking to switch accounts to give us a better interest rate.
Thanks0 -
We are currently with the co-op, but there is no interest paid until you have quite a large amount in the account, and it is set up as a business account, so you get all the business bumf, even though it is called Community Plus. They have been OK so far, although I've always wanted to bank elsewhere since they threw out a Christian group for being too vocal. In my humble opinion, as long as people abide by the ethical policies of the co-op, I believe their religion and private beliefs should not come under scrutiny. So..I have always felt a bit bad banking with the Co-Op, despite agreeing with all of its ethical policies.
I am very attracted to the idea of banking with CAF and have read all the many good comments about it on this forum. However, I got in touch with them and they said that only registered charities could bank with them, and we're a mere not-for-profit org (unable to get Charitable Status due to not having an income flow of at least £5000 per annum). It seems odd that the Charities Commission have imposed this rule, since it penalises those organisations doing good work on a shoe-string yet they are the very people who need their help the most.
All the best,
Dee0 -
Wooleycats wrote: »Hi
I notice it's a while since anyone posted here and I wondered if there was any updated advice on the best bank accounts for a registered charity as my group is looking to switch accounts to give us a better interest rate.
Thanks
The other thing is that there will never be one 'best' account which suits all charities and NFP groups. It depends what you need from a bank account. For example, when I ran the school PTA and out of school clubs, I found Alliance and Leicester best suited my needs, because we were in a bank-free zone and with A&L I could pay cash and cheques in at the Post Office, and withdraw cash there too. Since I regularly needed to do both, I had to have a bank which let me use the PO. A&L also offered a High Interest Deposit Account which let me move money instantly by phone, so that worked for me too because my incomings and outgoings weren't predictable.
Now I work for a charity, and we've moved from the Coop to Unity Trust. We rarely need to withdraw or pay in cash, which is just as well because that's a pain in the backside to do. We get a decent rate of interest in our current account, so it all lives in there.
You need to think about what you need - how many cheques you write each month, whether you need to pay in or withdraw cash, how quickly you might need any currently surplus funds, whether you need a credit card, if you want internet banking - and then go and find out who offers the deal which suits you best.
BTW, one piece of advice if you currently have numbers of standing orders coming in is to be ready to send more than one letter asking people to switch to the new bank account! It takes a while! And one person we never did track down ...Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
Havnt asked any banks yet, but we are not registered as our turnover is not above £5000. We run a local toddler club but sometimes stack up several hundred pounds over a year (because expenditure is very low).
Can anyone give any advice on opening a bank account? We do not want it in a personal account as it changes hands quite regularly as children grow older.0 -
Would have thought that you were looking for a treasurers account which is for charities, clubs and associations. You get cheque book, no cards and can specify two people to sign cheques to keep it all above board. Our one is with the Royal Bank but I know that Halifax also do treasurer accounts, not sure who else though. Check it out to see if it is the correct option for you.Thanks for the advice Martin! :money:Member no. 920 - Proud to be dealing with our debts0
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I am involved with a not for profit and they bank with HSBC and it requires 2 signatures for the cheques.0
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